Tap-wrench



(No Model.)

H. B. KEIPER.

TAP WRENCH.

No. 595,312. Patented Dec. 14,1897.

u .111111111111 ifi 111 qtta wn ey llnrrnn rares avenir OFFICE.

HENRY B. KEPER, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

TAP-VVRENCH.

srnerrrcafrron forming part of mettersi-eaten@ No. 595,312, dated December 14, 1897.

Application led March 18, 1895. Serial No. 542,288. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that l, HENRY B. KEIPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster and Sta-te of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Adjustable Tap-Viench; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of tools known to the trade as adjustable tap-wrenches- The object of the invention is the construction of a tap-wrench that may be expeditiously and conveniently adj usted to suit the heads of various sizes of taps arranged in sets or otherwise and in which each separate adjustment will adapt said wrench to hold the differently-sized heads of the same set from the largest to the smallest tap therein.

The elements of the invention, as well as the manner in which they perform their functions, will separately and collectively appear in the following description and willbe clearly set forth in the claims.

The purposes of the invention are attained by mechanism and devices illustrated in the accomliianying1 drawings, similar referenceletters designating like parts throughout the several views, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tap-wrench embodying the elements of the invention, showing a collar-securing pin in dotted lines and a tap-head in place, with portions of each end of the handle cnt out or broken away for want of room in the drawings; Fig. 2, an ele vat-ion similar to Fig. 1 with portions in lon gitndinal section taken through the center of said securingpin, and a tap-head and a collar guidepin in dotted lines, both in place; Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 2, but the section taken through the center of the collar guide-pins, the collars some distance apart, and the retainingpin cut away iiush with the screw-threads of the central shaft Fig. e, a view from the right of Fig. 3, completed with the right-hand collar, the adjusting-nut, and the tap-head removed; Fig. 5, a similar view from the left with the left-hand collar and securing-pin removed; Fig. 6, a view from the right of Fig. l with the tap-head removed, and Fig. 7 a View from the left of the retainingnut detached from Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawings, the tapwrench of this invention comprises a central shaft A, two abutting collars A A2, and a retainingnut A3 mounted thereon, with a pin a iixedly securing one of said collars to said shaft. The collars have in their abutting or adjacent facesa numberof radial V-shapedrecesses or indentations a, of about ninety-degree openings and of varying depths, arranged in equal pairs and oppositely disposed, forming angular or square sockets about the periphery thereof, onehalf of each socket being in each collar and the sockets adapted to hold tapheads from the smallest to the largest in the several sets of taps, according to each separate adjustment, (see Fig. 1,) but the opposite pairs of said indentations are best shown in planin Figs. 4. and 5.

The central shaft A is preferably a cylindrical bar or rod, of approved dimensions, having a smooth central portion a, of increased diameter, provided at each end with screw threads d2 a3 and from beyond the screw-threads thinned or turned off to the depth of said threads and finished or polished to the extremities of the shaft constituting the handle of thev Wrench.

Onto the threads a2 of the shaft is screwed the outer end of the collar A', having its inner end for a prescribed distance on the smooth central portion of the shaft and its outer end circumferentially thinned or turned off, as shown, and through which a pin a, likewise passing through the shaft, serves to securely hold said collar fixed in position to said shaft. The collar A2, likewise thinned at its outer end, is sleeved on the smooth portion of the shaft, movable back and forth thereon, while the screw A3 on the threads as, screwed home onto said collar, serves to bind the two collars together, holding them longitudinally in position, and pins a5 a5, having their rearward ends rigidly secured into the abutting face of one of the collars A and their forward ends engaging corresponding holes or sockets in the adjacent face of the other collar A2, serve to guide said collar'A2 in lateral adjustment, as well as to keep it from turning or rotating on said shaft. A feather IOO a6 (indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 5) is firmly seated lengthwise in the face of the shaft, and the inner face of the collar A2 is provided with a corresponding groove a7 (also indicated by dotted lines in the same gures) to be engaged by said feather to perform the same functionthat is, guide said collar in adjustment or keep it from rotating. Either of these, the pins a5 a5, with their sockets, or the feather a6, with its groove a7, may be omitted in the construction or both may be used without affecting the character of the invention.

An inspection of Figs. 1 and 2 shows how a tap-head is held in position in a socket, while an inspection of Figs. 2 and 3 shows a difference in lateral adjustment. It will here vbe observed that the pins a5 of one collar should not be entirely Withdrawn from their sockets of the other collar, this being particularly important when the feather and groove are omitted in the construction.

Having now particularly described my invention and set forth the manner in which it is performed, what I do consider new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An adjustable tap-Wrench comprising a cylindrical shaft with a smooth central portion having screw-threads at the ends thereof and of greater diameter than the rest of the shaft; abutting collars, with oppositely-disposed V-shaped indentations in their adjacent faces, mounted on said central portion, one collar with internal screw-threads engaging the threads on one end of saidcentral portion and a pin passing through said collar and shaft and the other collar movable back and forth thereon with a key seated in the body of the shaft to engage a groove in the inner face of said movable collar, guide-pins secured in the abutting face of one collar to engage corresponding sockets in the adjacent face of the other collar, and a nut engaging the threads on the adjacent end of said central portion, all substantially as described and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. The herein-described tap-wrench consisting ofthe shaft A with the smooth central portion a and the screw-threads a2 a3 on the ends thereof, the collar A with the internal screw-threads engaging the threads a2 and the pin a passing through said collar and shaft, the collar A2 movable back and forth on the central portion, and the nut A3 in engagement with the threads a3, the V- shaped indentations 01,4 in the adjacent faces of said abutting collars, and the pins a5 d5 secured into the abutting face of the one collar engaging corresponding sockets in the adjacent face of the other, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an adjustable tap-wrench of the character described, in combination, the central shaft A having the central portion a with the threaded ends d2 a3, the collar A with the internal screw-threads on the threads a2 and the pin apassing through the collar and shaft, the collar a2 sleeved on said central portion with the nut A3 on the screw-threads d3; the V-shaped indentations a4 registering in pairs in the adjacent faces of said collars, and the key a6 seated in the body of the shaft and engaging the groove a7 in the inner face of the collar A2 all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY B. KEIPER.

Witnesses:

EDWIN BOOKMYER, JOHN B. HLOUGH. 

